Paint brushes are most easily cleaned by soaking the brush within a container of paint thinner or other solvent. Resting the bottom of the brush against the bottom of the container for a prolonged period can cause a damaging permanent deformation of the bristle region of the brush. This can avoided by suspending the brush within the container in a manner which keeps the bristles out of contact with the container base.
Suspension of a brush within a container is also advantageous during operations other than cleaning. For example, a wet paint brush frequently poses problems when a painting operation must be temporarily interrupted. The brush cannot be simply rested on a nearby surface without transfering paint to the surface and this also risks contamination of the brush with particulate matter. Hanging the brush from a hook, nail or the like may drip paint on the underlying floor. Resting the brush within a container is subject to the bristle deformation problem discussed above. This may also coat the upper regions of the brush with paint if the container is the paint can itself.
A variety of devices have heretofore been developed for the purpose of suspending one or more paint brushes at an elevated location within a container. These are in general undesirably complex and costly and can pose problems of their own during use. Such prior devices typically have clips, clamps or other mechanisms for gripping the brush handle that are difficult to operate while one is also holding the wet brush in one hand. In other instances, the brush and/or the container itself must have a specialized construction in order to accommodate to the suspension means.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems discussed above.